Superheroes, women, and visual pleasure The construction of the female gaze in the marvel cinematic universe

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Orsolya Szujer

Abstract

The paper analyses how the female gaze is present in selected movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, primarily based on Laura Mulvey’s theory on the male gaze and Richard Dyer’s observations on the instability of the male pinup. Before delving into the study of how the eroticized male (super)body is presented in the MCU, I briefly outline the current situation of women in the superhero fandom, with emphasis on the growth of female audience in the case of comic book blockbuster movies and how the presence of an eroticized male body might be a tool for gaining female audience. I will analyze Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), the Thor–trilogy—Thor (2011), Thor: The Dark World (2013), and Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Black Panther (2018).

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How to Cite
Szujer, Orsolya. 2018. “Superheroes, Women, and Visual Pleasure: The Construction of the Female Gaze in the Marvel Cinematic Universe”. AMERICANA E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary 14 (2). https://iskolakultura.hu/index.php/americanaejournal/article/view/45416.
Section
Essays
Author Biography

Orsolya Szujer

Orsolya Szujer gained her master’s at Eötvös Loránd University in 2017, and is currently a third year PhD student in ELTE’s Gender in English and American Literature and Culture program, with her research focusing on the representation of female characters in mainstream American superhero comics. Email: orsolyaszujer@gmail.com